Now let's open our Bibles back
to Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. Let me
read just a few verses out of this chapter that sort of summarizes
the message this morning. Look at verse 19. Colossians
chapter 1. The Apostle Paul writes, For
it pleased the Father, that in him, that is, in Christ, should
all fullness dwell." Now, later on in chapter 2, if you look
at verse 9, that fullness that is in Christ, which pleases the
Father, is described. It says, "...for in him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Now, when we speak of
the Godhead, we're speaking of the blessed Trinity. God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Now, we can't
explain the Trinity, and there are no earthly illustrations
that would give you any enlightenment on the Trinity. Every earthly
illustration, every attempt that I've ever heard to describe the
Trinity only brings it down and diminishes it and really defiles
it. There are no earthly illustrations
for it. This is something that is so
high above us that we cannot explain it, and we can't fully
grasp it, but we know it's so because the Bible teaches it.
This is how God reveals himself. One God who subsists in three
distinct persons, and each person of the Trinity is every bit God
in every attribute. God the Father is God, God the
Son is God, God the Holy Spirit is God. We worship one God in
three persons. And listen to me now. We're not
to confuse the persons of the Trinity. God the Father chose
a people and gave them to the Son, and the Son agreed in that
covenant to become incarnate and to fulfill all the responsibilities
of our salvation. And the Spirit in that covenant
agreed to be the great applicator, if you will, the one who applies
that salvation in our experience in the new birth. And each person
in the Trinity has their office and their duties. But it's one
God, not three Gods, not a three-headed God, but one God. But here's
what he's saying in verse 9 and in verse 19 of chapter 1, that
if you want to know the fullness of the Father, If you want to
see something of the fullness of the Father, or the fullness
of the Son, and the fullness of the Holy Spirit, you must
look to Christ. For he is the revelation of the
Father. He told Philip, he said, Philip,
if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. You can't see the
Father, you can't know the Father, and you can't rest and hope in
the Father but through the Son. And the Son himself in human
flesh dwelt among men." The Word was made flesh and dwelt among
men. And we see the fullness of the Son in the person and
work of Christ. And the fullness of the Spirit
is experienced and seen in revelation as, now listen to me, as he points
sinners to the Son. That's right. Now there's the fullness of the
Godhead. You can't know the Father, the Son, nor the Spirit apart
from Christ and Him crucified. Everything that we have by revelation,
everything we have by salvation, everything that we have in comfort,
in peace, in assurance, and in hope comes to us from the Godhead
through the Son, through Christ. He says in verse 10, and you
are complete in him, chapter 2, which is the head of all principality
and power. Now go back up to chapter 1,
verse 20. He says, now, and having made
peace through the blood of his cross, peace between God and
sinners, peace among sinners, peace among Jew and Gentile in
the Lord, talking about his people, spiritual Israel, the church.
by him to reconcile all things unto himself by him I say whether
they be things in earth or things in heaven and that is everything
that God is in heaven and everything that we are here on earth is
reconciled unto God through Christ who made peace through the blood
of his cross and it says in verse 21 and you that were sometime
alienated and enemies in mind or in your mind by wicked works
yet now hath he reconciled." Now, how did he reconcile us?
Look at verse 22, "...in the body of his flesh through death."
Do you see that? That's how God reconciled the
sinners, and sinners reconciled to God. When Christ died on that
cross, the reconciliation took place. "...in the body of his
flesh through death." His death. Now, our problem is, when we're
born into this world fallen, And in our ignorance and in our
unbelief in an unregenerate state, we don't know about this. We
don't believe it. We're ignorant of it. We walk
in darkness, and we're alienated from God in our minds. That's
what he says. Enemies of God in our minds until the Holy Spirit
comes and shows us Christ and what he accomplished, and then
we're reconciled to God by faith in him. You see that? All right, he says in verse 22,
"...in the body of his flesh through death To present you
holy, how? In Christ. Holy in Christ. Unblameable, how? In Christ. You ever been blamed for anything?
I have, you have. Did you do what they said you
did? Sometimes you did. But in Christ,
we're unblameable under the law of God. and unreprovable. Now, you know what that means?
You know what reproof is? The Bible says that the Scriptures
are good for our reproof. That means there are times I
need to be corrected. You ever have to correct your
children? Sure you do. Well, God sometimes has to correct
His children, too. But here, He says we're unreprovable. That means we don't need any
correction. Now, how is that so? How can God lovingly chastise
his children and correct us, and here it says we don't need
any correction. This is speaking of how we are in Christ, as we're
viewed in Christ. Look at it in his sight. Do you see that? This is what
I am in Christ, in my union with Christ by his blood and righteousness
in the sight of God's law and justice. Now, in myself, I still
need a lot of correction, a lot of improvement. I'm a sinner
in myself, but in God's sight, I'm holy in Christ. And I know
that may be a difficult concept for people to grasp hold of,
but that's what the scripture says right there and in a lot
of other places, isn't it? How does God view me in Christ? We hear that song sung, you know,
about the blood of the lamb. When he sees me, he sees the
blood of the lamb. He sees me as perfect in Christ. not as I am in myself, in the
view of his law and justice." Now, that doesn't mean God doesn't
know when I sin and he doesn't see that. He does. But my justification,
my fitness before God is in Christ. And we've got to keep that in
mind. And he says in verse 23, "...if you continue in the faith,
grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope
of the gospel." Now, that's the title of the message this morning,
the hope of the gospel. And Paul says, which you've heard.
You've heard the gospel. You have the hope of the gospel,
which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, whereabout
Paul, and made a minister. Now, the hope of the gospel.
When we think of the word hope in the Scriptures, hope, which
is a gift of the Spirit of God, one of the graces of the Spirit,
it comes with faith in Christ. And when we think of hope, we
need to think of it in a certain way. Now, hope in the scripture,
what is hope? Hope is a certain expectation
based on a sure ground. That's what hope is in the Bible,
the hope of the gospel. Let me give that to you again. It's a certain expectation. that's based on a sure ground. It has a firm foundation. Now,
that's why we sing that song that we sing so often. My hope
is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
You see, that's a sure foundation. Hope in the Bible is not wishful
thinking. It's not a pipe dream. It's not
like the fellow who was convicted of a crime and sentenced to hang,
and he bargained with the king. He said, if you'll let me go
and pardon me for at least one year at the end of the year,
I promise you I'll teach your horse how to fly. And the king
agreed to it. He pardoned him with a conditional
pardon. As long as at the end of the year the horse could fly,
then the fellow would get off. And they asked the guy, he said,
are you crazy? I said, what in the world is
going to happen here? He said, well, I figure within a year,
either the king will die. Or I will die. Or the horse will
die. Or the horse might just fly.
Now I want to tell you something. That's
not the kind of hope that I want. How about you? I don't want that
kind of hope. If that's your hope, it's not
based on a sure foundation, is it? But you see, that's not the
way it is in the Scriptures. I want you to look at a verse
with me back in Proverbs chapter 13. Proverbs chapter 13. And this is one that's quoted
quite a bit in literature, and you may have heard it yourself.
Proverbs 13 and verse 12. It says, "...hope deferred maketh
the heart sick." Now, that means hope delayed. That's what that
means. And somebody says, well, you
know, we as believers, we as the church, we expect a lot of
things that have not yet come about. Isn't that right? I mean,
we expect the Lord to return to this earth and gather His
church and judge this world. That hasn't happened yet. But
I'm going to tell you something. That's a sure thing based on
a sure foundation, and there is no delay. There is no delay
at all. Now, you might go to a doctor's
office or a dentist's office, and you might have a two o'clock
appointment, and you may be delayed. You might run to get on an airplane
and find out that the plane is delayed. It didn't arrive at
the expected preplanned time. But the second coming of Christ
is in no delay. For it will come on time." Christ
will be here right on the very second that God has purposed
him to be there. Not one second early, not one
second late. And we'll all be there with him.
Not one second early, not one second late. The Old Testament
saints, the believers, they looked forward to the coming of Christ
the first time. to redeem us from our sins. There
was absolutely no delay. They didn't experience, the Bible
says, the fulfillment of the promise. They hoped, but their
hope was not deferred. It wasn't delayed. The Bible
says that Christ came on time in God's good time. He called
it the fullness of the time. God sent forth his Son, made
of a woman, made under the law. So it says here in verse 12,
hope deferred maketh the heart sick. That is, hope delayed.
There's no delay in our hope. But he says, but when the desire
cometh, it is a tree of life. When I look at that verse, I
think about the Old Testament passages that describe the Messiah
in the Old Testament as the desire of all nations. That is, he's
the desire of God's elect out of every tribe and nation. Well,
my friend, our desire has been fulfilled in the first coming
of Christ. Look over at Colossians chapter
1 again. Look back at verse 5. Now, Paul had never been to this
church, but he had sent a letter from them by this fellow named
Epaphras, and he heard of their faith. in Christ and their love
for the saints. And he says in verse 5, look
at chapter 1, verse 5, for the hope which is laid up for you
in heaven. Now, what is he speaking of there?
Where have you heard before in the word of the truth of the
gospel? He's talking about Christ, our mediator, who is in heaven,
the God man, whoever lives to make intercession for us. That's
our certainty. He is our expectation. Look over
at verse 23. If you continue in the faith,
what is the faith? The faith is what Christ, the
God-man, our mediator, our substitute, accomplished at Calvary for our
salvation. How do we know that he accomplished
it? He was buried. He arose from the dead. and he
ascended on high, and he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
having finished his work, ever living to make intercession for
us." Think about it. That's the hope of the gospel.
Christ is the hope of the gospel. Christ and him crucified. Let
me give you these things right here. The hope of the gospel
is the expectation of all of salvation. Not just this part
of salvation or that part of salvation, but all of salvation,
even unto final glory in heaven in Christ, based on his finished
work, his blood, his righteousness. How do I know? How can I expect
to be in glory? Because my Savior is in glory,
and I'm looking to him and him alone for all of my salvation. I don't look anywhere else. To
look anywhere else is a pipe dream. You might as well expect
horses or pigs to fly to look anywhere else and have hope.
That's right. Because Christ is seated in the
heavenly. He has finished the work. But
go on. Now listen to this. Now it's
said back here, it pleased the Father that in him should all
fullness dwell. The hope of the gospel is founded
upon the preeminence of Christ. He's everything. He's all in
all. Now, listen to this. The preeminence
of Christ is founded upon the cross. His finished work for
his people. So what is the hope of the gospel?
The hope of the gospel is Christ and him crucified. The Bible
teaches in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 20, for all the promises
of God are in him, yea, and in him. Let me show you that in these
particulars. First of all, look back at the verse 12. First of
all, there's the preeminence of Christ in our fitness for
heaven. He's preeminent in our fitness.
Now, he's speaking of giving thanks unto the Father. We thank
thee, O Father, which hath made us meet. Now, that word meet
there means to be fit. It means to be qualified. It
means to be worthy. In other words, we who are in
Christ are fit, qualified, and worthy. To what? To be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light. Now that word partakers,
sometimes it's translated with the word fellowship. What it
means is to be a partner or a sharer. And what he's saying here is
we give thanks unto God the Father who has made us to be qualified
sharers of the inheritance of the saints in life. Now, what
we share in is an inheritance. That means you didn't earn it.
That means I didn't earn it. That means somebody else earned
it and bequeathed it to us. Isn't that the proper language
in a will? It's like a last will and testament.
When we read about the blessings of salvation, what we hope for,
When we read about the glory of salvation, when we read about
the coming glory that Christ will bring in his second coming,
all of that that we will enjoy in eternity, we're talking about
something we didn't earn, but that Christ earned for us and
he bequeathed it to us. It's an inheritance. Peter said
it's an inheritance that's incorruptible. It can't be defiled and it can't
be taken away. Because, you see, it's based
upon a good foundation, a sure foundation, Christ and him crucified. Christ earned it for us. And
this is an inheritance of saints. Now, we're made qualified, fit,
and worthy to share in this inheritance with saints. What is a saint?
He's one who's sanctified, set apart, and made holy by the Father
in Christ. Holy, unblameable, unreprovable
in his sight. How did that come about? By the
blood of Christ, by his righteousness imputed. We were redeemed and
justified and adopted into his family by the Lord Jesus Christ. Saints, sinners saved by the
grace of God. That means if you share in this
inheritance, you, my friend, are a saint. And you didn't get
to be a saint by your efforts. You didn't get to be a saint
by your prayers. You didn't get to be a saint,
listen, even by any works that you do. It's made that way. We're made. We're made people.
Made by the Father through the Son. He has the preeminence in
our fitness. Now, let me tell you something.
Our fitness, our meekness, our qualification, our worthiness
for heaven is Christ and Him crucified. It's His blood and
His righteousness. Now, think about that. Our hope
is in Him. Our fitness. Listen to me. Our fitness and our qualification
and worthiness is not by anything done by us, through us, or in
us, but in Christ alone. It's not even the work of the
Holy Spirit in us. Now, listen to what I'm saying.
You see, in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead.
Our hope is not in any supposed or imagined sinless perfection
within ourselves. That's not our qualification.
If it is, we're not qualified. Our qualification is Christ.
And if the Holy Spirit ever does a work of grace in us, that's
exactly what He'll tell you and lead you to what Christ accomplished
and in Him alone. That's the glory of this thing,
you see. You want to honor the Holy Spirit, look to Christ.
You want to honor the Father, look to Christ. You want to honor
the Son, look to Christ. He has the preeminence in our
fitness for heaven. And then look at verse 13. He
says, "...the Father who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness." Now, what is that power of darkness? That's the
power of condemnation. And it says, "...hath translated
us into the kingdom of his dear Son." Now, when did that take
place? Verse 14. in whom we have redemption through
his blood, even the forgiveness of sins." You see, in order to
be qualified, my sins must be pardoned and put away, must be
forgiven. I must be totally cleansed. Well,
where does that happen? Redemption through his blood.
He has the preeminence in my fitness, in my qualification,
in my worthiness, and I'm to look nowhere else. And that's
what the Holy Spirit guides and teaches his people to do, to
look to Christ in him alone. Secondly, he has the preeminence
in creation, the preeminence of Christ in creation. You know,
this whole world was created for the glory of God in Christ. Did you know that? Look at verse
15. This Christ, this son, his dear
son, is the image of the invisible God. Now that word image there
doesn't mean an image like a painting or a picture or a statue or some
representation of what they call Jesus. That word image there
means the exact likeness of the Father, the invisible God. That
means He is God. That's what it's talking about.
He is, in Hebrews it said He is the express image of God. He is God. Therefore, who is
the creator? It says he's the firstborn of
every creature. Now, that doesn't mean he himself
was created. That word firstborn doesn't mean
that he was the first one born. His humanity was created for
him in the womb of the Virgin Mary. But even if it was referring
to his humanity, his sinless humanity, he wasn't the first
one born. What does that mean, the firstborn
of every creature? Well, the firstborn reaches back
to the law of the firstborn of the Old Testament, which says
this, that the firstborn has the preeminence. The firstborn
is the spiritual leader of the family. The firstborn is responsible
for the spiritual welfare and good of the family. And sometimes
in the Old Testament, The one who was born into the family
first did not have that responsibility. In other words, he really wasn't
the firstborn. For example, if a girl, if the
firstborn child were a girl, she could not be the firstborn
because girls did not have that authority under the law of God
in the old covenant. And sometimes God by his sovereign
decree made distinction. For example, Esau was the firstborn. The first one to come out of
the womb, rather. But who did God say was the firstborn? Who
had the spiritual authority and leadership of the family? Jacob.
He said the elder shall what? Serve the younger. So who was
the firstborn in that family? A fellow named Jacob. Not his
twin brother Esau, who came out of the womb first. The firstborn
here doesn't mean the first one to come out of the womb. The
firstborn means the one who has the preeminence. And when it
comes to creation, that's what he's talking about, the firstborn
of creation there. Everything that was created,
Christ has the preeminence. But how? Look at verse 16. By
Him were all things created. He is the Creator. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And without him, without him,
nothing that was created was created. Everything. He is the
creator. He is the sovereign creator.
He has no beginning and no end. He has no birth in his deity. For by him were all things created
that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones, whether they be dominions, principalities,
or powers. And look on, he says, all things
were created by him, and not only that, all things were created
for him. For him. It's for his glory. He has the preeminence. In verse
17 it says, he is before all things, because he's the Alpha
and the Omega. Before not only in time, for
he had no beginning, But he is before all things in preeminence,
and by him all things consist. The only reason this whole thing
is held together for this time is because Christ is on the throne. Without him, there'd be nothing.
Without Christ, the moment that man sinned, this world would
have been obliterated. He has the preeminence in creation.
And then look at verse 18. Next, he has the preeminence
in redemption. Look at verse 18. He's the head
of the body, the church. Now, what is the body here? The
church. Who is the church? They're the chosen of God, God's
elect. Who is the church? They're the
redeemed of God, redeemed by his blood. Isn't that right?
The church of God which was redeemed by his blood. Who is the church? The called out ones, called out
by the Holy Spirit. That's what the word church,
ecclesia, literally means, called out of. You've been called out
of the world and into the sheepfold. My sheep hear my voice. Who is
the church? It's the family of God. Who is
the church? It's the household of God. Of
Christ is the head and the builder of the house. He's the foundation
of the building. Who is the church? The body of
Christ. He's the head, we're the body.
Who is the church? The bride of Christ. The wife
of Christ, if you will. Married to him. And he says he's
the head of the body. Who is the beginning? He is the
beginning in the sense of he's the starting of it and he's the
source of it. You see, somebody gets together
and they get mad and they walk off and they say, well, we're
going to start a church. That's exactly what you're going to
do, but it's not the body of Christ. You can start one here,
start one there, start it everywhere. The old preacher said, one flew
east, one flew west, one flew over the cuckoo's nest. And that's
about it. But my friend, the church is
his body, made up of many members, placed in the body as he sees
fit. All right? According to his wisdom
and his goodness. And he's the beginning, he's
the source of it. And then it says he's the firstborn from
the dead. Now, I want you to notice something
about that phrase. It doesn't say he was the first
one raised from the dead, because he wasn't. But it says he was
the firstborn from the dead. Now, keep in mind what I said
about the firstborn before. It's the one who has the preeminence.
There were many who were raised from the dead before Christ was.
And then Lazarus himself, for example, was raised from the
dead by our Lord. But Lazarus wasn't the firstborn
from the dead. There was a Sunamite woman's
son who was raised from the dead in the Old Testament. He wasn't
the firstborn. Christ alone is the firstborn
from the dead. You see, in his resurrection,
he has the preeminence. He has the first and foremost
place. He's Lord of Lord and King of
Kings. He's all in all. His resurrection
from the dead ensures the resurrection of all for whom he died. All
for whom he lived and died and was buried and rose again the
third day. You see? He has the preeminence. He's
the firstborn from the dead. And that's the issue of this.
He says that in all things, look at it, he might have the preeminence. Now, how many things should he
have the preeminence in? all things. All things, he's
preeminent. All things, he is it. It's not just that he's number
one, but he's all in all, the scripture says. And then look
at verse 19, for it please the Father that in him should all
fullness dwell, having made peace through the blood of his cross.
You see, his preeminence here, now listen to me. As God, absolutely
considered as God in His deity, He always had the preeminence. I mean, God cannot give up the
preeminence. God cannot stop being God. I
hear these people talking about divine, divinity, a divine nature. Now, listen to me. And they'll
talk about when you're born again, God creates in you a divine nature. Now, let me tell you something
about divine. It cannot be created. There's no such thing as creating
a divine nature. The nature of deity? What did
God tell Moses when Moses said, who do I tell them you are? Who
do I say sent me? He said, I am. I am that I am. That's the ever-existing, self-existing
God. who has no beginning and no end.
The tense of the verb back in the Hebrew there, it includes
all tenses. You all remember your verb tenses
in school? Can you think back that far, some of you? You had
past, you had present, and you had future. The I am is all past,
all present, and all future. In other words, there's no beginning,
no end. There's no time, you say. There's no creation. There's
no starting point for God. He always was. He lives, as one
writer said, in the eternal now. That's mind-boggling, isn't it? All things, past, present, and
future. And that's what he's saying here.
Listen. Listen. As God, Christ always had the
preeminence. For the purpose of redeeming
his people, redeeming us, he came to this earth and he took
into union with himself. He assumed human nature. Everything that man is, body,
soul, and spirit, without sin. That's what he did. And now as
God-man. Because of what he accomplished
on the cross of Calvary through the shedding of his blood, in
redeeming his people, and in justifying them from their sins
unto God, in making them righteous before God, he now has the preeminence
as God-man. You hear me? Now, years ago we
heard a message. at the 13th Street Conference
entitled, There's a Man in Glory. You remember that? There's a
man in glory. There's one God and one mediator
between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. He ever lives to
make intercession for us as God-man. There is a man in glory. And
that's the reason our hope is sure and certain. Because there's
a man in glory. But not just a mere man. He's
God-man. And he will exist everlastingly
in glory as God-man, the Lamb of God. And our hope of final
glory is sure and certain. Look at it, verse 20. "...having
made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile
all things unto himself." By him. By God. If anything, anyone's
reconciled to God, it's by him. By him alone. And then he says,
"...and you that were sometime alienated in enemies, in your
mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled." Boy, that
is the glory of God's grace. Now, what kind of people did
Christ die for on the cross? What kind of people did he redeem? What kind of people did he justify? What kind of people did he give
his life for? Enemies. Enemies. Look over Romans chapter 5. Impotent, unruly enemies. That's who he died for. Look
at Romans chapter 5 and verse 6. Now, he's talking about the
Holy Ghost shedding abroad in our hearts the love of God. That's
when the Holy Spirit in the new birth gives us an abiding presence
and sense in our hearts, our minds, affections, and will of
the love of God towards us. Now, how does he do that? Look
at verse 6. For when we were yet without strength, In due
time, Christ died for who? The ungodly. He suffered the
just for the unjust. And then look down at verse 9. He says, Much more than being
now justified by his blood, made righteous by his blood, we shall
be saved from wrath through him that is our future glory. We
will not experience the wrath of God that unbelievers will
experience at his second coming, because Christ will save us from
it. He says, for if when we were
enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son,
much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. In
other words, when we were enemies, Christ died for us, reconciling
us unto God. Now we live by the Spirit through
him and from him. He'll save us completely. He
ever lived to make intercession. By his life, he ever lived to
make intercession for us. Look back at Colossians 1. You
see, he has the preeminence in redemption. And he did it, verse
22, in the body of his flesh through death, to present you
holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. Now, having said
all that, that means this. He has the preeminence in our
hope. Our hope. My hope is built on
nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness." He says,
if you continue in the faith. Now, the if there is not a conditional
if. It's not a condition that sinners
must meet in order to attain salvation or attain final glory. The if here is an evidence. The
whole construction of this wording in the original has to do with
a completed act in the past. And when he says, if you continue
in what? Now, that tells you what it means
in the faith. Now, what is the faith? The faith
is that Christ has already fulfilled all the conditions. The faith
is that Christ has already redeemed me by his blood. The faith is
that Christ has already justified me by his righteousness. That's
what the faith is. That's what we believe, you say.
And he says, grounded and settled. What is it to be grounded and
settled? Grounded and settled in Christ. That's what he's talking
about. Not grounded and settled that
I'm such a good guy. Now, if I'm grounded and settled
on that even for a moment, the next moment I'm going to have
some misgivings, aren't you? What is your ground? Where is
your settlement? The Bible says the man who builds
his house upon the sand, when the storm comes, it's going to
sink. But those who build their house upon what? The rock, Christ
Jesus. There's our ground. There's our
settlement, you see. It's not anything done by me
or even in me. Somebody said, well, do I have
enough faith? Enough for what? It's not do I have enough faith,
it's in whom is my faith. You see, there's my ground, there's
my settlement. Christ is our rock, our refuge. He's our sure foundation, it's
not what I do or try to do or even am enabled to do. Even the
best efforts that we have of obedience and worship are still
contaminated with sin. We believe, but we have to pray
every day, Lord, help our unbelief. Do you have doubts and misgivings?
You sure do, and I do. That's sinful. That's not our
ground. Our hope is not in anything within
ourselves. Our hope is outside of ourselves,
seated in heaven. What did he say over here in
Colossians chapter 1 in verse 5? For the hope which is laid
up for you in heaven. Our hope is in Christ. You see
that? And that's where we're grounded
and settled. And be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. What is the hope of the gospel?
It's the person and work of Christ. It's Christ and him crucified.
It's what he's accomplished for it, which you've heard. This
is what we've heard. It's what you all heard for 50
some years or more. You didn't look to anywhere else,
look within for sinless perfection. You didn't hear that here. You didn't hear look yonder,
look, look to Christ. That's what you heard consistently
from this place right here. And that's where your hope is.
That's the hope of the gospel. And don't look away from it.
No matter how noble it seems. No matter if they did a word
study. Look to Christ. That's the simplicity
of the message of grace. Look to His blood. Look to His
righteousness alone. That's where our hope is. He
has the preeminence in our hope. And that's what was preached.
And that's what Paul preached. He says, "...preach to every
creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am a minister."
May the Lord bless His Word to our hearts.